Member

38Q: After Clause 62, insert the following new Clause— “Protection of children from harmful social media services and features (1) The Secretary of State must, within 12 months of the day on which this Act is passed, by regulations made by statutory instrument, make provision for the purpose of protecting the wellbeing of children in relation to regulated user-to-user services likely to be accessed by children in the United Kingdom. (2) Regulations under this section must, in particular, make provision requiring providers of such services— (a) to assess and specify a minimum age of access for the service, or for specified features or functionalities of the service, as part of a children’s risk assessment carried out in accordance with provisions of the Online Safety Act 2023, with the expected minimum age of access for social networking services being 16 years; (b) to use highly-effective age assurance measures to prevent access by children below the applicable minimum age; (c) where a user is identified as being under the age of 16, to apply proportionate measures designed to— (i) limit the supply of addictive design features and design features that are inappropriate for children, and (ii) prevent access to content that is harmful to children; (d) to display to users under the age of 16 clear, accessible and age-appropriate health and wellbeing warnings about the risks associated with prolonged or excessive use of the service; (e) to keep under review the impact of the service’s design, functionalities, algorithms and business practices on the mental health and psychological wellbeing of children. (3) For the purposes of subsection (2)(c), “addictive design features and design features that are inappropriate for children” include, in particular— (a) infinite scrolling content feeds, (b) auto-play of sequential video or audio content, (c) algorithmic recommendation systems designed to maximise continuous user engagement, (d) sycophantic or manipulative features, or features that are likely to make a child understand the technology as human, (e) push notifications and alerts, including at night and during the school day, (f) the demand for unnecessary data in exchange for services. (4) Regulations under this section must require OFCOM to publish guidance about— (a) the criteria for determining an appropriate minimum age of access; (b) the evidential requirements for children’s risk assessments relating to minimum age determinations; (c) the identification and regulation of addictive design features in relation to children; and (d) the form and content of health and wellbeing warnings. (5) In making regulations under this section the Secretary of State must consult— (a) the Chief Medical Officers of the United Kingdom, (b) OFCOM, (c) the Information Commissioner, and (d) such other persons as the Secretary of State considers appropriate. (6) Regulations under this section shall be treated as imposing enforceable requirements for the purposes of Part 7 of the Online Safety Act 2023. (7) A statutory instrument containing regulations under this section may not be made unless a draft of the instrument has been laid before and approved by a resolution of each House of Parliament. (8) In this section— “child” means a person under the age of 16; “content that is harmful to children” has the same meaning as in the Online Safety Act 2023; “regulated user-to-user service” has the same meaning as in that Act; “social networking service” means an online service that— (a) allows users to create profiles and interact publicly or privately with other users, and (b) facilitates the sharing of user-generated content, including text, images or videos, with a wider audience.”